The data also shows that the minority of the population, especially the minority of women, are inexplicably affected. Another fact about obesity is that an approximation of about 50% of African-American and Mexican-American women are on the heavy side. Chillingly, more than one in five children and teenagers between the ages of 6 years and 17 years are also overweight.

No matter how you look at it, the number of children and adolescents who are obese have risen from approximately 5% in the 1960’s and 70’s to a staggering 11% in the recent years.

It is also an obesity fact that being overweight or obese is a big risk factor for diseases such as diabetes, gallbladder disease, high blood pressure, heart disease, breathing problems, arthritis, and certain forms of cancer. Some research organizations, on the other hand, have found that new studies are challenging the true occurrence of child obesity and obesity in general. They believe that some claims of the obesity epidemic are not backed by actual obesity facts or evidence. They say that hype and exaggeration of data obtained might cause unnecessary health interventions.

According to the latest figures from the annual Health Survey for England, published by the Department of Health and examined by the Oxford-based Social Issues Research Center, the idea that childhood obesity is at an epidemic proportion and is growing rapidly, is nothing more than an unconfirmed assumption, not an absolute obesity fact.

Doctors, scientists, and other health experts generally agree, however, that men with more than 25% of body fat and women with more than 30% of body fat are overweight or obese. In spite of this, it is quite challenging to determine body fat accurately. The most common method in measuring a person’s body fat is the underwater weight method, where you weigh a person underwater. Then again, underwater weighing is a method limited only to laboratories and test facilities with special equipment.

There are two easier methods for measuring body fat though, the skinfold thickness technique and the bioelectrical impedance analysis, or BIA. The results of the skinfold technique, however, may largely vary since it is very much dependent on the skill of the examiner. BIA analysis, on the other hand, may not be accurate in measuring body fat in seriously obese people.

Exaggerated obesity facts or not; whether you believe the facts or not; one obesity fact remains true: it is a risk factor for a handful of diseases. No matter how we measure body fat, or how we determine if a person is overweight or not, the fact is obesity exists and we need to do something about it before it goes out of control.